Intergalactic South
by Ars Arpadok
Summary: Series of drabbles involving clones.
1. Wolffe's Orientation

I've done it. I've written (will continue to write) drabbles. So far I've got 20 suggestions on various philisophical concepts. I've never done this before so we'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think /give me suggestion for further installments if you like.

Disclaimer: I own none of the caracters, will not profit from the writing of this fic.

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1. Orientation: _the ascertainment of one's true position, as in a novel situation, with respect to attitudes, judgments, etc._

Wolffe hates the first three minutes of deployment.

They remind him of his new realities. The roll of the transport in the edge of atmospheres makes him think of the escape-pod above Abregado. The squeal of superheated air across the hull sounds like _Droch_ arms. The sudden pockets of denser gasses striking the hull are asteroids; bits of the _Triumphant_; pieces of the Wolfpack. He can never get enough air on the way down; the remembered void steals it all.

He knows now that gravity is false, all warmth and oxygen temporary. Wolffe's forever has become pressureless, gelid and vacuum-silent.


	2. Thire's God

#2. I like me the obscure clones, that I do.

Disclaimer in ch. 1

Enjoy!

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2. God: _the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe_

Also

_Any deified person or object. _

Thire knows almost nothing about religion. Stationed on Coruscant; he has heard things shouted at him by wild eyed creatures about death and salvation but they mean nothing to him. Then one day a mad female thrust a copy of her scripture into his hands. In it he found words like savior, free-will and purpose and love. He learned that all these things were granted to believers by a god. Thire still knows almost nothing about religion but he does know about God. God is tiny; green with enormous ears, and told him he was man amongst long dead corals.


	3. Rys's Lack of God

This is much more upbeat than I meant it to be. Oh well, guess even I can't be depressive forever. Also this is sort of a follow up to #2.

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Enjoy!

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3. Lack of God (Atheism): _rejection of belief in God or gods_

Thire told Rys his thoughts on God. Rys thinks the lieutenant is wrong. Rys read the book too. Thire says God is about love and saving people. Rys can't remember those parts, just the parts about death and destruction raining down upon the hapless. Though he hasn't seen much of the war yet he thinks that sounds about right. That doesn't mean he has to like it. Rys loves Thire. He loves Thire's beautiful ideas. God seems to have other plans. Rys doesn't want that god. Rys decides to remake the universe in Thire's image; if he lives that long.


	4. Rex's Reflection

Part 4, now we're getting into better known clones, hurray!

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Reflection: _an image; representation; counterpart._

Also

_A fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration._

Rex shaves twice a day; once in the morning and once before falling into his bunk at night. He does it whether shipside or deployed; by feel or with a mirror. He prefers to do it by feel, but that's foolish here in the barracks. Someone will notice his strange behavior. Rex doesn't want anyone to know that he no longer sees his own face in mirror. He sees Denal, Koho, Jekk, Heavy and all the other dead men who he's failed. He forces himself to look at them all twice a day. It gets harder and harder every time.


	5. Fives' Birth

Finally, some humor! Yeah, I'm not so good at it but I try.

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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Birth: _the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition_

Fives is billeted with an accommodating Saleucami family when the mother gives birth to the family's seventh child. He'd heard some of Cody's boys talk about how nice children were. He can't agree less. The infant is a horrifying shade of grey-pink, covered in something like clotted cheese and mucus and as wrinkled as Yoda. She hiccups and starts to make sounds that Fives is sure no human should be able to make. The family coos at her and pets her exhausted mother. Fives frowns. He doesn't understand; he's sure he never looked that awful emerging from his growth vat.


	6. Chopper, Extrinsically

I always liked Chopper, even if he is a bit of a cliche.

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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Extrinsic: _being __outside __a __thing; __outward __or __external; __operating __or coming __from __without_

Chopper wants some to be things very clear to everyone, especially the Jedi. First, his hatred of noncombatants is not a function of battle stress. He's always disliked everyone who didn't have the good fortune to be cloned. Second, he doesn't _really_ think the droids owed him anything, he just thought their fingers looked good strung together. Nothing he does is because of the war or what the war is doing to him. He can't remember not wanting to punch civilians or dismember droids. He can't remember not hearing his brothers scream and sob and die as he falls asleep.


	7. Inertia

A mystery clone! No, not really, you'll be able to figure out who I'm talking about easily. (Hint: look at the last line)

Disclaimer: See ch.1

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Inertia: _A __property __of __matter __by __which __it __retains __its __state __of rest __or __its __velocity __along __a __straight __line __so __long __as __it __is not __acted __upon __by __an __external __force.\_

CT 2303 climbs onto the transport and feels nothing. His drop-group chatters and roughhouses their way through their pre-drop nerves. He stands by silently. His feet propel him forward, obedient to a duty he has never understood. He continues on the trajectory dictated by a war he feels no need to fight. Seconds later the transport is torn apart by enemy flak and CT 2303 feels hope as the surface of Saleucami rushes toward him. He sees a way to break away from his lock step existence. As the transport falls CT2303 reaches for his restraints and cuts himself free.


	8. Gree, Caught in the form of Limitation

Oh man, I have been obsessing over this prompt since I got the list. For those who don't know already this is a line from T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton." I've included the next eight lines to the end of the poem.

I've also cheated on the length. There's 48 extra words. It's a prompt from one of my favorite English language poets, I couldn't help myself.

Extra Disclaimer: See ch. 1 and I am not T.S. Eliot.

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Caught in the form of limitation:

_**Between un-being and being.**__**  
**__**Sudden in a shaft of sunlight**__**  
**__**Even while the dust moves**__**  
**__**There rises the hidden laughter**__**  
**__**Of children in the foliage**__**  
**__**Quick now, here, now, always—**__**  
**__**Ridiculous the waste sad time**__**  
**__**Stretching before and after.**_

In the instant after the order comes Gree develops the ability to see everything. He sees the entirety of the battle, for this little mud beach; for the planet around him, for the Galaxy.

He sees the beginning of this battle; terrified cubs in chains, watches a brother not his own fall behind; be_ left_ behind. He sees the end of this battle; the end of battles long distant on unknown planets.

Gree sees another Kashyyk, one unscarred by wars, another free of the huge, brooding forests, another a wasteland of scorched rock and hot wind.

CC 1004 sees the end of his own life at the hands of the diminutive Jedi before him. He sees another life continuing on the run, with a wife and a child; or alone. He sees and understands the will of the universe; the Force, it doesn't matter. He accepts his fate.


	9. Faie's Syzygy

As I approach the end of my twenty-third year...I give you an update.

I'd like to thank the staggering number of readers who are spoiling me by knocking my hit counter into the stratosphere. It'll be hard to go back to writing one shots about obscure characters that average less than a tenth of this attention; but I'll survive somehow.

Anyway, enjoy these new additions as my birthday present to you guys

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Syzygy: _Any pair, usually opposites (Greek: yoked together)_

Quinlan Vos has a habit of standing with his back turned at exactly thirty two degrees to his Clone Commander. This way he can still appear to be including Faie in the general strategy discussions that all of the Jedi and their senior clones attend. Faie feels no jealousy toward the clones he sees treated as equals by their commanders. He is not angry at Vos for disliking him. Faie accepts his fate and commander with the perfect equanimity he has been trained to exhibit. He leaves emotional upheaval to the Jedi. Faie fights serenely, perfectly, as he always has.


	10. Boil's Theory

Ah theory, how very, very many definitions you have. I've included my favorites.

P.S. if you want the proper, scientific definition, it's the first one. (pet peeve of mine)

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Theory: _a coherent group of general propositions used as principles ofexplanation for a class of phenomena_

Also

_a particular conception or view of something to be done or ofthe method of doing it; a system of rules or principles_.

Also

_guess or conjecture_

If Boil fries at least ten droids each skirmish he doubles he and Waxer's chances of survival. He observes most troopers being shot apart by at least five droids before they die. If he doesn't think about Numa then the universe won't respond to the anomaly of a clone feeling paternal by killing her; but then he starts to forget what she looks like. He paints her face on his helmet as a compromise. Boil has suppositions about compromises. If he makes enough of them then all three of them will get to be together again. It's a numbers game.


	11. Waxer's Faith

I couldn't help but tie these two together. Theory:Faith; Boil:Waxer. It just works too well.

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Faith: _Confidence or trust in a person or thing_

Also

_Belief that is not based on proof_

Waxer sees Boil's fear and tries to reassure him. The best way to ensure that they two and Numa will see eachother again is not to calculate and bargain but simply to believe. He has heard Obi-wan and his various co-religionist speak about the will of the Force. Waxer doesn't know what the Force is but he has learned something about will. Will keeps you alive against impossible odds; lets you pull off impossible feats of skill. He has heard Cody tell the Ghost Company that they have durasteel wills. Waxer believes him. His conviction in his will keeps him and Boil and Numa alive.


	12. Sinker's Stars

This one is inspired by a request from reulte.

It's not quite what you wanted (flight:Sinker) but I am in love with this poem and thought your request was a perfect excuse to use it. You also get two extra words as a thanks for your interest and kind comments.

The excerpt is from the poem "Ashes" by Vasko Popa, found in English in his_ Homage to the Lame Wolf_

Disclaimer: See ch.1

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_Each night sets fire to its own star_

_And dances a black dance around it_

_Until the star burns out_

_Then the nights divide themselves_

_Some become stars_

_Other remain night_

…

_The last night becomes both star and night_

_It sets fire to itself_

_And dances the black dance around itself_

Sinker wakes recalling strange, directed spinning, gravity-less flight.

He's talked with Boost who shudders at the memory of the droids floating toward them. Sinker doesn't remember that.

Sinker remembers the wild tapestry of stars; close enough to taste and too far away to imagine. They spin and dance behind his closed eyes; massive, insubstantial, red, yellow, blue, white. Sinker was more alive in the lifeless-space between stars than he'd ever been. He's read that ancient Mandalorians shot their dead war-beasts into stars. Sinker hopes to be flung into that macrocosm at the end and drift through the frictionless eternity into a star.


	13. Heavy's Time

Disclaimer: See ch.1

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Time: _The system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another._

Also

_Duration __regarded __as __belonging __to __the __present __life __as __distinct from __the __life __to __come __or __from __eternity; __finite __duration._

Also

_The __end __of __a __prescribed __or __allotted __period._

Everything was always too slow for Heavy. There was something he needed to do; to get to. If he finished this training course a second quicker, breezed through his inspection a little faster then he would have more time to spend on that someday task.

He pushes and cajoles his brothers to hurry. He feels that thing he's needed to do drawing closer. He's afraid he'll miss it if he's too long on a task; showering; asleep. When it finally arrives he realizes that he's got all the time in the Universe to do it.

He leisurely pushes the button.


	14. Slick's Parallels

I'll admit to cheating a bit here with my definitions and playing a bit hard on the tension between the actually idea and the motivation/actions of the character.

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Parallel: _Having the same direction, course, nature, or tendency; corresponding; similar; analogous_.

Slick loved Rex, wanted to be just like him. One day Rex notices his efforts; he smiles at Slick, tells him he's glad to serve alongside him. Slick feels ten meters tall.

A week later they land on Geonosis. Chopper gets half his head shot away before he's fully off the transport; covering Slick in his blood. By the time Rex comes to tell him he's been promoted he only has three of his boys left. Rex stands next to a stone-faced Jedi and tells him he understands how much this hurts. Slick realizes he will never be like Rex.


	15. Sev's Consequence

It's an all Republic Commando update. I've finally finished unpacking and have all my books back and have be re-reading. I can't help it, I love the characters (okay, most of the characters) in the novels/game in spite of my objections to Karen Traviss. Oh well.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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Consequentialism: _The ends justify the means_

Delta 07 watches the gunship lift off through gaps in the smoking foliage.

He was too slow; too much time spent shooting, not enough running. He should have been able to blast a commando sized hole in those hostiles, shouldn't have thought about it so hard, shouldn't have taken cover and called for backup from the squad. They had a job to do; they couldn't wait for freeloaders.

It would be alright though he has a job too. Sev begins to hum; applies bacta to the most accessible of his wounds, reloads and sights up the next target. He understands.


	16. Fixer's Mind

Again, not explicitly what the prompt is about but I do love subtext (too much I know)

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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_And if the answer is no can I change your mind?_

Fixer wishes Scorch would talk to him the way he talks to Sev; but he won't tell his pod-mate. He wants Sev to lean on him like he does with Boss; but he won't say so. He wants Boss to check-up on him like he does the others; but he won't ask.

Fixer wants inside his squad so bad it burns like lactic acid in his muscles. But he can't ask because he's sure they'll look at him like he's cracked call him nuts and laugh. Fixer can't stand even that much discord between them.

Not with death so close.


	17. Niner's Peace

I love Niner so very much. I think I over-identify with him more even than with Fixer.

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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Peace: _The normal non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world_

Also

_Silence, stillness_

Niner's secret wish is for the constant clamor of worried voices and wildly discordant contingencies in his brain to end; for quiet. He's heard Skirata claim that they don't know what peace is; haven't been allowed it.

Niner thinks he's wrong.

Niner has seen Gaftikar in the afternoon; he's been in a room and watched Etain and Darman stare at each other in silence. Niner knows what peace is and he's become willing to do damn near anything to get it. Now, as he lies on his back looking up at the bridge-extension, his head finally goes silent.

He smiles.


	18. Denal's Infinity

Oof, long time no write; or rather, long time no write something that isn't a translation of medieval church Latin.

I am pleased to report that, despite my first mature scholarly effort being on the brink of publication, I still feel about nine on the inside. (Just don't tell my editor.)

So, in summary: Scholarship: hard, historians: grumpy, _Star Wars_: comforting.

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

Enjoy!

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Infinity: (mathematics) _the __assumed __limit __of __a __sequence, __series, __etc., __that increases __without __bound_.

A plasma grenade burns with sixteen times the heat of a yellow star. A thermal-detonator creates twelve times more heat than that. The bolt from a DC-15 is one third as hot as a plasma grenade. Denal loves his calculations. It gives him something to do as they evac out of another hot zone with minimal survivors; gives him something to think about on the way to another deployment. The inertial force; the heat of the meltdown of a C-class reactor core is a challenge his brain relishes, racing ahead of the flames even as the rest of him cannot.


	19. Kix's Opposites

Aaand...a second update. I think this is going to have to do for now. I'm pretty fried after all this time and writing drabbles is harder than I remembered.

Doing a quick count of my remaining prompts is looks like I have six more. I'll try to get back to the three chapters per update schedule which means there's only two more installments of "Intergalactic South" to go! I may even explain the title in one of these notes too.

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

Enjoy!

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Opposite: _contrary __or __radically __different __in __some __respect __common __to both, __as __in __nature__, __qualities, __direction, __result, __or __significance; opposed._

Kix hadn't wanted to heal.

His goal in life was to become a sniper. The intimacy and precision of the job appealed to him.

Then they had gone to war and his squad lost both of its medics within ten minutes of each other. Kix's knowledge of major arteries and nerve clusters saved three lives that day. He is ever after the medic.

He's pleased by the intimacy and precision of field medicine but he keeps his sniper's rifle close. Kix wanted to be a sniper to feel elite but, he reflects, being the opposite quantity is almost as good.


	20. Boba's Love Beyond Desire

I know Boba Fett isn't _cannonically_ a clone but I mean he is really, isn't he?

And Baby Fett is just too damn cute to pass up.

Disclaimer: see ch.1

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That Boba loved his father isn't even a question. There's a hole in his chest that bleeds invisibly every time he thinks about Jango; he never gets to stop thinking about his father.

He's everywhere. Even when his face is hidden behind a white helmet Boba knows he's there. He told Aurra that he only wanted revenge but he's lying.

He wanted to see his dad again. He'll never admit that, not even to himself, that though the men with his face aren't him it hurts just right when one of them smiles down at him or ruffles his hair.


	21. Stone's 6th Sence

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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6th Sense: _a power of perception beyond the five senses; intuition_.

CC-5869 is generally creeped out by the Jedi.

He especially hates it when one of them goes vacant for a second and then blinks back to reality with a tidbit of information from the future or someone's head.

What's worse some of his brother-clones are copping to funny feelings and gut rumblings. Stone's worried the Force is contagious. He doesn't want to know what people think about him from moment to moment.

He's certain that the only sacred thing in the galaxy is the half meter square in everyone's skull and the ignorance of how it's all going to end.


	22. Echo's Truth

On an unrelated note; Echo is in Australia with Butch and Sundance and I don't want to hear anything to the contrary.

Was that nebulous enough to protect against spoilers?

Disclaimer: see ch. 1

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Truth: _the true or actual state of a matter_

Also

_conformity with fact or reality; verity_

Echo wants the galaxy to make sense. He wants it all in tidy lines and expected order; but he's not stupid. He's young, sure but not stupid.

If he had his way Cutup would have died face-front fighting droids; Hevy wouldn't have died at all. _He_ certainly wouldn't have been an ARC. Fives might have done that or Hevy. He used to think, to hope really, that the regs and manuals would provide some secret formula, some blueprint that would sort it all out but that _is_ stupid.

The universe is random and we've all got to take our chances.


	23. Bly's Violence

Wow, it has been quite some time since I worked on this. I'm sorry for the delay life has been catching up with me. Thanks to all the reviewers for their kind words and all the readers for their patience.

Several of you have requested specific clone stories and I would like to honor those requests. That being said I'm not sure when I will have the time to do so. I also had a rather specific end point in mind for these pieces based around very specific phrases/concepts so expanding for new clones is going to take a good bit of thought on my part. We will see what I can do.

Anyway, enough talk on to the chapter.

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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_Violence:_ _the exercise or an instance of physical force, usually effecting or intended to effect injuries, destruction, etc._

Bly works hard to display his non-interest in politics or rectitude; his unswerving devotion to mission and Empire. He had slipped up once; the former SO commander had noticed. But he's been vigilant since. Every defense has a weak point; find it, reinforce it and move forward. Bly is fortunate that his weakness was easy to spot. All he had to do to shore himself up was blast away the ambiguity beneath a stained-glass canopy. He's rectified his deficiency. He tells himself that each time he wakes up with sweaty palms and her name a sob locked behind his teeth.


	24. Cody's Loss

I love Cody. So very much. He's always struck me as the harried, long suffering go-getter. The guy who not only takes care of his own stuff but helps you out with your's before you even have to ask. He's the guy everyone wants to talk to but nobody ever seems to listen to, not that he'd ever complain. Of everyone in the series I think I want Cody to have some sort of happy ending the most but I can't see it actually coming to fruition. I'm so awful I'm unable even write him one. Someone do me a favor a write more up-beat Cody fic okay?

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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_Loss:__ detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get_

Rex had told him about the farmer on Salecumi; about how he had fought for his children. Cody had liked that story; liked how Rex's eyes went soft when he remembered. He knew why Boil sat frowning at his 'pad during quiet moments mouthing the complex syllables of Twi'lek to himself and twitching his head as though he wanted tails. He knew it was the same reason Waxer collected bright beads and the occasional toy; stashed carefully in his locker for a theoretical someday.

He hopes they've all found what they craved on the Outside. It's not that he begrudges them, he had his opportunity too. He'd seen it in the alluring half-smile of the third lieutenant back on the _Resolute. _He had let it go; had let them all go in the end. Someone had to stay. Others have a duty to the future, Cody has to remember everyone who's gone.


	25. Darman's Jealousy

Wow, I am terrible at this updating thing. Well since I am A.) done with The Book (out in April, woo!) B.) State side for the forseeable future I can at long, long last finish this thing and maybe even try some new fic. We'll see.

At this point I'm also taking requests. So if you have a favorite clone I haven't written about please let me know.

Disclaimer see ch. 1

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Jealousy: resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself.

_or_

Vigilance in maintaining or guarding something.

Darman doesn't tell Niner he hates him, and Jaing, Prudii, Boss, Vau and all the rest that have not loved.

He never wanted a wife or son or a heart and soul in jagged pieces.

He hates Skirata for lying to him, the Nulls for helping him. He hates every sentient alive who doesn't yet know that love dies and leaves behind a void of rage and pain.

He lives in that void; guards it from everyone who wants to save him because he doesn't want to go back to what he was before he got everything he never wanted.


	26. Dogma

No points for guessing what Dogma's prompt is (okay it's a synonym but hey, I'm lazy).

Disclaimer see Ch. 1

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Persuasion: The act of persuading (Persuade: to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince)

_or_

A belief or conviction

He lies serenely in his cell, waiting; knowing. Dogma has always known what he is. They gave him his name because of it. He's "by the book" but not the one they've read. Dogma exists to fulfill his mission, to follow his orders. They can't court-martial him because he's only done his job; protect Umbara from Separatist threats.

Dogma doesn't account thought or feelings He's proud to be the perfect clone; follow the letter and the spirit of his orders. The Jedi can't dispute it and if they do then they're wrong. Just like Krell. Dogma waits, smiling, knowing, right.


	27. Hardcase Drunk Forever

I thought Hardcase was going to be, well , hard to write. I mean he dies in the midst of a pretty traumatic arc of the story. (BTW; Holy Hell I'm glad I missed that one when it first came out. I was not in a good place November of 2011. ) Somehow though Hardcase is just so damned up beat that this came out way happier than I thought it would but then I'm Romanian we're a depressive bunch mostly.

Disclaimer see Ch. 1

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_Could man be drunk for ever_

_With liquor, love, or fights,_

_Lief should I rouse at morning_

_And lief lie down of nights._

_But men at whiles are sober_

_And think by fits and starts,_

_And if they think, they fasten_

_Their hands upon their hearts._

_- Could Man be Drunk Forever A.E. Houseman_

Hardcase just doesn't get some things. Like Rex always torturing himself over how other people see him; Fives bellyaching about right and wrong; Jesse wanting to best at everything. Kriff on that. Life's wasted on all that and clones don't have much to look forward to anyway. Hardcase only ever wanted to be happy. Happiness is a warm gun; a grenade held a second longer than the regs say, the adrenaline high of pulling off the impossible, the punch drunk camaraderie after. Life's about the rush of living or, Hardcase thinks as he jams the missile into the reactor, dying.


	28. Oddball's Spirit

This one is ain response to a request from Pronker (pronker?) for an Oddball fic. Having done this I realized I had no real grasp on Oddball so I...um...subsituted a poem ('cause I'm pretentious classy as all hell). So Pronker I hope you like this. I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it but I really appreciate your feedback on all of my stuff.

I appreciate all of your feed back, everyone, thank you, really, thank you.

Disclaimer see Ch. 1

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_...and my spirit with its loss _  
_knows this; _  
_though small against the black, _  
_small against the formless rocks, _  
_hell must break before I am lost;_

_before I am lost _  
_hell must open like a red rose _  
_for the dead to pass._

_From Eurydice by H.D._

Oddball hears the Order go out over the coms. He can't hear Cody down on Utapau but he's certain the Commander followed through. Cody long ago decided to stop caring about anyone but clones.

Oddball wishes he were like Cody but he _feels_ it. He misses both of his Generals. He's angry with them for betraying the Chancellor; for leaving him in this mess. He didn't know what was going to happen after the war but it was supposed to happen to _all_ of them.

But that's fine. Kriff them. Oddball's got what's left of his brothers, he's got Cody.


	29. Tup's Panic

****_I return with the fulfillment of requests from Laloga. Please enjoy even if you are not Laloga. _

_Some portions of this, the letters to Flanker, are taken from the Clone Wars comic "Cold Snap" which was published an age ago but that I've never been able to get out of my head. I think it may actually be semi-responsible for kicking off this fic. If you can find I recommend it, bring your hankie though. _

Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

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**Panic: a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior.**

Tup pulled garrison duty on some backwater ice world ten months ago. He'd found a blood crusted 'pad with letters to clone called Flanker in the snow. He's read them two dozen times. His company transferred to an even more obscure desert world, only Tup made it off.

He lays in his bunk on Umbara and recites each of those letters to himself. When Dogma demands he get up he can't say no. He doesn't want to give up the others but he can't stand to be alone. Krell will find them out anyway. He'll write them after they're gone.


	30. Jesse's Pleasure

_Request fulfillment part two. Enjoy._

Disclaimers: See Ch. 1

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**Pleasure: Enjoyment or satisfaction derived from what is to one's liking; gratification; delight**

Jesse lives for the in-between times of the war. He revels in the quiet minutes when they sit together cleaning weapons and armor; relishes the raucous games of chance and skill that they dream up to pass the time. But what really thrills him are those hours when Kix can't sleep for nerves and Hardcase for boredom.

They all pile together on the floor like Draz pups. Jesse tells them old kid's stories he'd read out of a book found in the rubble of some dead city and eventually they all fall asleep in an exquisite tangle of warm clone.


	31. Maze's Hope

_Some explanation is needed for this one. I love Maze in kind of the same way I love Cody, he's Mr. Competent even if he doesn't like it because somebody's got to keep everything together and pointed in the right direction damnit. That and he calls Skirata on his bull in Imperial Commando 501st which, however you feel about Skirata and his happy Mando family, you have to admit the man had coming. So Maze=Awesome. _

_Also, Traviss herself stated that her ultimate plan was to have Maze and Zey fly off and be "the Starsky and Hutch of GFFA." As a child who had a stuffed toy named Huggy Bear I find that to be too great to pass up. Maze is totally Starsky btw. _

Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

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**Hope: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best**

**or**

**A person or thing in which expectations are centered**

Everything's gone to _osik_ and Maze can't stop smiling. He's defied the new Emperor, hauled a half-dead Jedi general through light-years of enemy space to a hostile camp where he'd managed to bully Kal and his idiot brood into helping them and now they're both fed and healed and okay and free.

Maze has done the impossible and now there's nothing he can't pull off. It's just him and Zey, out to sort out the galaxy all on their own. Together, as equals; as friends maybe. There's nothing else left for them now and Maze couldn't be happier about it.


	32. Gregor's Shadow-Soul

****_Another one that requires explanation, sorry about this guys. I see Gregor as inherently dualistic and have been toying with the idea for weeks now. This is kind of a jumping off point for a possible longer fic I have in bits and pieces. I've tried to sum up a pretty heavy theological/philosophical concept in a couple of sentences. It's imperfect but I think it gets the message across sufficiently for our purposes. Let me know what you think._

Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

* * *

**Iste: The free-roaming soul, the split spirit (Finno-Ugric concept of certain people possessing a soul that animates the body and a second that is free to wander the world esp. in sleep or after death. This soul often emerges during a time of stress or change for the person in question. There are stories of taltos/shamans being subjected to some sort of test meant to induce this soul-split)**

The waitress with the dark hair and black eyes smiles at him. Gregor feels something inside him tear. She takes the plates to a table and he watches her, conscious that he is doing it, that his watching is somehow more significant than the way the other patrons watch her.

She kisses him three days later, behind the diner, after he locks up. He looks down on himself kissing her from above and realizes everything's gone wrong. He watches himself take her hand; follow her home and he knows he's not allowed these things but he can't stop his other-self.


End file.
